


You Can't Always Control Nightmares

by ElliotOrion



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Dave (Umbrella Academy) is Alive, Dave is one of the 43, Fanfiction of Fanfiction, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Nightmares, No Smut, Phobias, They Have A Daughter Because I Said So, dog bites, no beta we die like ben
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-08-13 20:23:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20180194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElliotOrion/pseuds/ElliotOrion
Summary: Dave's dreams become real, but sometimes his nightmares do too.--A two part fanfic of "dream me the world (something new for every night)" by siriuspiggyback, where Dave is one of the 43 and can pull things from his dreams. You WILL need to read it to understand this.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [dream me the world (something new for every night)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20155393) by [siriuspiggyback](https://archiveofourown.org/users/siriuspiggyback/pseuds/siriuspiggyback). 

> siriuspiggyback inspired the hell out of me when I read their fic, so I got their permission to write this and post it! You will need to read their fic to understand this, though, which you should definitely do anyways because it's a fantastic fic and you'll be glad you did. 
> 
> This takes place after that fic ends by a few years probably, and it definitely has my own spin on it. Dave's dog phobia is entirely me (i saw claw marks, tooth in his leg, and self projected my own phobia, though mine is not of dogs, onto Dave. Whoops!), and I gave them a daughter because i felt like it. I also forgot Five moved in with them in their fic, so uh. let's say he's sleeping at a friends house. Anyways, I hope my bastardization does justice to a fantastic fic, go give siruspiggyback all of your love for their incredible works, and enjoy! Part two will be posted tomorrow!

Dave’s dreams are so often beautiful, soft, helpful. But sometimes they are dangerous and terrifying. Some nights he wakes up screaming with claws on his arms or a massive dog bite in his shoulder. Some nights he forgets to breathe, and Klaus has to shake him awake before it’s too late. 

He doesn’t know what Dave’s nightmares are about. Dave knows his, of course he does. Klaus long stopped hiding things from him. But Dave refuses to say what his nightmares are. He thinks that if he speaks them, it’s more likely he’ll bring them back, and he can’t bring them back, he can’t let them hurt Klaus or their daughter, calmly sleeping in the perfect nursery he dreamed up for her. 

Klaus thinks it’s a load of horse shit. Dave won’t hurt him. And he never does. 

But you can’t always control your nightmares, and he can’t always control what he brings back. 

Which is why Klaus wakes up to Dave’s screams one night, the red eyes of some vicious hellhound staring them down across the bed. Something about the dog terrifies Dave more than Klaus thinks it probably should, freezing him in place. Sure it’s got drool dripping onto their sheets, sure it’s got big teeth and a horrible snarl, but…

It kind of just looks like a big husky.

A big husky who’s about to tear out Dave’s throat.

“Dave!” He shoves his husband out of the way of the dog’s lunge and off the bed, feeling it’s teeth sinking into his shoulder. The sensation of sharp pain and hot blood on his back is far more familiar than it should be. 

Dave chokes out a strangled scream, scrambling back against the closet doors. He’s not going to be of any help. 

Dad’s training kicks in at seeing Ben running to the doorway, and Klaus elbows the dog in the throat, dislodging it from his shoulder.

“Ben! Two!” Somehow Ben understands him, years of being attached at the hip coming in handy.

“I’ve got her!” He runs back into the hallway to check if there’s more dogs, to make sure his niece is okay. Ben will keep Benji safe, Klaus knows it. 

He’s a bit preoccupied with the dog turning back to Dave. 

This might be the one and only time Klaus is glad for Reginald’s training on how to tackle and snap someone’s neck. 

The dog falls lip on the bed, red eyes staring unblinking at Dave. He’s still frozen in place, probably will be until the dog is gone. Klaus recognizes the teeth now, the fur that sometimes shows up on the blankets after a nightmare. Whatever this dog is, whatever memories it brings up, it’s the cause of Dave’s nightmares. 

He knew Dave was afraid of dogs. 

Why did the bite and claw marks never clue him in that it was worse than he thought?

“She’s safe. That was the only one.” Ben shows back up in the doorway, letting Klaus finally breathe a sigh of relief. “Want me to…”

“Yea, thanks.” Klaus focuses his powers, the struggle he hasn’t felt in years reminding him that, oh, yea, he’s kind of bleeding. He’ll deal with that in a minute. 

Once Ben’s hauled the dog out of their bedroom, Klaus kneels down in front of Dave, resting a hand on his cheek and brushing away the tears that have silently been falling. His other hand is trying to stop the bleeding. From the blinding pain every time he puts pressure on the bite, it might be a bit worse than anticipated. He just hopes he can keep Ben solid enough to get the dog in the dumpster. 

“Dave. Davey, it’s okay. It was just a nightmare, it wasn-” He cuts off, looking back at the clawed up blankets, the trail of blood. He’d been about to tell Dave what he always tells him when he dreams of the mausoleum. It’s not real, you aren’t there, you never have to go back. 

He’s starting to realize that maybe… maybe Dave’s powers aren’t as wonderful as he always thought. Because he can’t say that the dog wasn’t real. It was, it died a real death. It was here. 

“You are safe now,” he says instead, sticking to the truth. “I won’t let your nightmares hurt you, even if you make them real. The dog’s gone now. You are awake now.” 

“Klaus…” Dave lets out a sob, collapsing forward to hug his husband, only to jerk back when Klaus lets out a yelp. “Oh my god… oh my god you are hurt!” 

“Just a little.” Klaus smiles. It feels weaker than he wanted it to be. He feels weaker than he wants to be. 

“Shit. Shit, shit, shit, it hurt you. Oh god, I hurt you, oh god, Klaus,” Dave hauls him to his feet and into their bathroom, frantically pawing through the cabinet for the first aid kid. Klaus is only half listening, feeling a little bit like he used to when he took weed, before Dave dreamed him up the pills to control his powers. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so - so sorry, I - “

“Oh shuddup. I’m okay.” Klaus groans, resting his head on the sink while Dave stitches up his shoulder. Technically, Klaus should go to the hospital, and they all know it. But  
hospitals are cesspools of ghosts, and as weak as he is right now, Klaus would never be able to send them all away. He probably couldn’t even at peak health. 

After the panic attack to end all panic attacks when Dave brought him to one when he got beat up in a fight with some asshole creeping on Vanya, he knows better. Which is why Klaus and Ben taught him first aid, just in case he got hurt or wasn’t around to help someone else. They hoped it would never be needed, but it was a precaution that paid off, he supposes.

Eventually, Klaus is all bandaged up and sleeping on the couch, Dave cleaning up in the bedroom while their daughter miraculously sleeps through it all. 

Boy is there going to be a talk in the morning though…


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would you believe me if i said i just genuinely forgot I'd written a second chapter? because I did, so this is now late. Whoops. Enjoy the nerds talking.

“Hey baby, how are you feeling?” Dave wakes him up with a kiss and two mugs hot cocoa loaded up with marshmallows, whipped cream, and sprinkles on a tray he’s got balanced in one arm.

Yep, he’s anxious. 

“Hey. How’s - Oh,” Klaus chuckles, taking their three month old from Dave’s arms and cooing to her. 

“I’m so relieved she’s safe.” Dave sighs, a bit of a tremor in his voice. His eyes are red and puffy, his words scratchy. 

“Have you been crying, Davey?” Klaus frowns, grabbing Dave’s arm and pulling him onto the couch next to him. Dave rarely cries. He hates feeling weak.   
Klaus steals a bite of the whipped cream on one of the hot cocoa mugs, but he doesn’t take the whole thing. One, he has an infant in his arms, thank you very much, and two, he doesn’t like the sweetness. Dave’s the sweet one, always has been. He’s the “how many espressos can you legally give me?” one. 

His childhood was spent suffering from jetlag from multiple cross continental missions and trying not to fall asleep during dad’s late night trainings you know. 

“...No.” 

“You are a terrible liar.” Klaus snorts. He puts Benji on the play mat by the couch, letting her press the bright piano buttons and chew on her teething ring. She’s enjoying herself thoroughly, which means they can talk. 

Which they desperately, desperately need to do, before Dave starts over thinking… well, more than he already is. 

“I’m fine. How are you? How’s the… the bite?” 

“It’ll be fine. It doesn’t hurt that bad.” He is a much better liar. 

“I… I’m…”

“Don’t say you are sorry.” Klaus interrupts before Dave can look any more guilty than he already is. He is so not in the mood for a pity party, not without caffeine and some painkillers. 

“I hurt you.” Dave blurts out, shoving the cocoa onto the side table so he can hide his face, moving so quick he spills it all. But he can never look at someone when he’s feeling bad. “I hurt you, Klaus! The… the dog, it hurt you, it could have hurt Benji, you could have… you could have…” 

“Davey, Davey, shhh…” he shakes his head, taking Dave’s hands and pressing a gentle kiss to them. “It’s okay baby. It was an accident.” 

“I hurt you.” 

“Not on purpose. It was a nightmare, that’s all.” 

“I shouldn’t… I should…” Klaus watches Dave’s eyes float over to Benji, remembers the conversations they used to have about Klaus sleeping in the same bed as him.

“Nope. Whatever you are thinking, nope.” He crawls onto Dave’s lap, not giving him any leeway. He’s going to get the message, whether he wants to or not, damn it. Dave’s got a self sacrificing streak a mile wide, and hell fucking no to that. He gets that enough with Diego, and he’s so done with it, thank you very much. 

“Klaus…” 

“Dave…” he mimics his husband’s almost patronizing tone. “Stop it, okay? You aren’t the only one who’s powers can accidentally hurt someone. Luther gets stressed sometimes and breaks things. Diego used to throw tantrums that wound up in me getting nailed in the head with a block when we were kids. Vanya destroyed her room that one time when she had a nightmare, remember that? She nearly killed her cat. And what did you tell her when she was freaking out about that?” 

“She doesn’t have to deal with it alone…” Dave frowns, leaning into Klaus’s hands. “But that’s different.”

“Literally, how is it different? Nightmare, powers go out of control, it’s the exact same thing, Davey. It has been forever since we’ve been living together, baby, and this is the very first time something like this has happened. You aren’t a threat, to me or Benji. Trust me. If I let Luther hold her, you bringing one thing from your nightmares for the first time in forever is so not a concern.” 

Dave snorts at that, and Klaus knows he’s won. 

“I love you, you know. I love you so much.” Dave hides his face in Klaus’ neck, carefully wrapping his arms around his waist. 

“I love you too.” he kisses the top of Dave’s head. “I also would love some ibprophen.” He gets another snort at that.   
Klaus knows should probably ask about the husky, figure out what happened that made Dave so afraid of dogs. He probably should ask where Ben put the dog too, and maybe hit up a not-hospital doctor for some antibodics so he doesn’t get an infection. 

But for right now, he’s perfectly content to play with his daughter on the floor while Dave and Ben argue about the newest episode of some show as they make waffles.

Dog bites aside, it’s a pretty good Sunday morning. But then again, they all are when he has his family with him.

**Author's Note:**

> My writing blog is elliot-orion, so feel free to say hi!


End file.
